Basics of Sexing?

Dec 1, 2020
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Western Washington
Hello, I have had my first eggs in the incubator for 15 days now. They are both looking and developing well. I keep looking through the "What breed or gender is this" threads and am trying to learn the basic things to look for when determining sex. Does anyone have any quick tips for me? Thank you!
 
Thank you for the reply! Chicken eggs right now but ducks in the future.
Unless you have a pro who can vent sex the newly hatched chicks, it will take a while to know what gender they are. By 6-8 weeks, the comb and wattles will often tell you what sex the young birds are-- larger, more red combs and wattles indicate males. Often, but not always, the male chicks will show gender specific feathering by 13 weeks or so. Those are the main things to look for.

However, there are some tricks, depending on what breed and variety you're raising. In some color patterns the coloring will be different for males and females, and those breeds are easier to sex early.

There is also the option, once they grow feathers, to send in samples to a lab, which, for a price, can tell you the gender of the bird after testing.

These are just some basic things to keep in mind. Generally on this board, 6 weeks is the very earliest age to send in pictures to get help with sexing.
 
Unless you have a pro who can vent sex the newly hatched chicks, it will take a while to know what gender they are. By 6-8 weeks, the comb and wattles will often tell you what sex the young birds are-- larger, more red combs and wattles indicate males. Often, but not always, the male chicks will show gender specific feathering by 13 weeks or so. Those are the main things to look for.

However, there are some tricks, depending on what breed and variety you're raising. In some color patterns the coloring will be different for males and females, and those breeds are easier to sex early.

There is also the option, once they grow feathers, to send in samples to a lab, which, for a price, can tell you the gender of the bird after testing.

These are just some basic things to keep in mind. Generally on this board, 6 weeks is the very earliest age to send in pictures to get help with sexing.
Thank you! This helps a lot. I don't think I will be doing any feather testing. I have a good rooster I like, so any extra roosters will just go to the kitchen. And by week 20 I think I will have a pretty good idea of who is a rooster 😂
 

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